Yes, it does read Amiga HD disks and detects them automatically.
It only requires a standard 3.5 PC drive to read any 3.5 media, or 5.25 drive for 5.25 media.

Just to make sure I understand this (which will be no small feat. :-):

If I have it attached to my PC and have it attached to a standard PC HD 3.5" floppy, I can read and write Amiga 800K disks, and have them fairly reliably read on my Amiga (assuming I use real DSDD floppies)?

Similar for the 5 1/4's. I can use a HD 5 1/4" drive and have it write DSDD floppies for my 64?
(And my Apple II's and possibly Adam? Hmmm... I'll have to go to the electronics stores and find a PC 5 1/4" drive tho :-)

Sounds like a great project. Depending on price, I'll definitely be in for an assembled model. I can solder, but it's in everyone's best interest if I don't. :-)

Thanx for the update.

desiv

(and a timeframe would be great, but I can wait. I just got an A1200 and some stuff for it, so the farther out it is, the more likely my wife won't mind "another gadget". :-)

I can't wait for the pre-assembled models either Though I am wondering if a pre-assembled with drive(s) mounted would be available. What I would really like is a nice box with a USB cable, power adaptor (if necessary,) and both drives. Does anyone know if this would be possable, and if so, anyone out there planning on building and selling them? Thanks

The board should be small enough to fit into a standard external enclosure for SCSI harddisks or DVD ROM drives. At least the dev board already does, so if you drill a few holes to see the leds and have access to the reset button, this should not be an issue at all.

I bet there will be some clever chaps offering such modification for those who want to pay for this.

We're now working on getting the hardware done... still need a helping hand...

You should consider getting a proper run of them done, knowing full well that you'll sell at least 200, even if it's just for the SMD side of things, find a local house, get a simple stencil made up and away you go.

Otherwise I will offer my services in making some up, the only thing I want is one for myself as payment.

And yes, the ATMEL has a pitch of 0.5. I'd solder that by having a tinned board with flux (hehe) applied and then placing the processor on it, and gently swiping the iron over a row of contacts.

However, I am not sad if don't have to do this myself.

If you have a previously tinned board, when you run the iron over it, then you will put tension on the pins , as each side will sink slightly, you may even get to the point of having one row of pins raised off the solder altogether.

Another suggestion is to bother some local electronic manufacturers, any that use stencils, when their stencils get a bit worn, they replace them, get any that have 0.5 dot pitch mask in the same pin count as the Atmel, and they are very common, then mask up any nearby holes with Kaplon tape and using something like a paint stripper, the metal bladed type, apply a small amount of solder paste to the screen and run the blade over it. Place the Atmel by hand, have two ovens, a small toaster type oven at around 100 degrees celcius and another at around 220 degrees celcius, use the first as preheat and second as reflow. It's fiddly, I know, but it will work. Failing that, just get the Atmel placed and reflowed prior to any other components, I have contacts here I could ask for prices, if you like?

Paul, we're not denying any help. I think shipping and customs could be a hassle for larger quantities, but this might be a wonderful opportunity for people willing to wait a few days longer due to shipping and of course for people from Australia.

I've soldered SMD components like what I mentioned before, so it does work, but you are right... without correct pressure in the middle of the CPU, it can become problematic.